Snowmobiles are a common means for traveling in or on snow. Typically, snowmobiles are small vehicles with ski-like runners in front used to steer the vehicle and tank-like treads in back for propelling the vehicle across the snow. To facilitate passage of the snowmobile through deep snow, groomed trails are frequently formed, especially in the back country and in restricted areas. However, continual use of these trails results in the snow becoming compacted and grooved, making passage more difficult and the ride uncomfortable. Consequently, snowmobile riders will attempt to ride off the trail in fresh snow. Furthermore, it sometimes becomes necessary to ride in fresh snow where no trails have been formed, such as immediately after or during a snowfall or to travel to a wilderness area.
One difficulty in riding in deep snow is that the snowmobile is capable of only traveling through snow of a certain depth. When fresh snow is more than a foot deep, traction is severely reduced, making it difficult to initiate movement and maintain stability.
Although there are a number of devices for grooming snowmobile trails, there does not exist any device that attaches to the front of the snowmobile for improving traction in heavy or deep snow. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,498, issued to Cote, Jr., on May 20, 1975 discloses a snowmobile trail sweep that is essentially a precurved flap attached to the rear of the snowmobile to smooth the snow behind the vehicle as it travels over a trail. U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,916, issued to Roemer on Nov. 15, 1977, discloses a snowmobile trail leveler having a multi-blade rotating member positioned between a traction tread and a pair of forward-mounted skis for leveling bumps or raises in a snowmobile trail. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,949, issued to Sabrowsky et al. on Dec. 5, 1978, teaches an apparatus designed to break up a wavy and rutted snowmobile trail, including packed and icy snow, thus smoothing out an already existing trail. None of these references teaches or suggests attaching a device to the front of a snowmobile for deflecting and compressing snow ahead of a snowmobile.